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I love this Power Poppy image, Everything’ Rosy. I have coloured it several times, using various colours and techniques. In this image, I added a dash of white gel pen to the edges, let’s call it artistic licence. That’s what’s so great about art, you are free to create, add, delete or alter your work any way the mood hits you.

I have always enjoyed colouring. In fact, I had “adult” colouring books, such as Fashion through the ages and English cottages, back in the 1990’s, before colouring became the new way to relax. Back then, I had a box of inexpensive coloured pencils and the most one could say about my coloured pictures is that they were…coloured. I didn’t know anything about shadows, shading, blending and other special effects.

Fast forward to 2017

I have been using Copic markers for about five years. I have taken a few Copic workshops and would have taken more, but they only come to my home town of Ottawa, Canada, every couple of years. That said, there are many things you can do and many resources available to help you take your colouring from basic to beautiful; from simple to spectacular. Following are some tips that have really helped me. I hope they help you, too.

watch free on-line tutorials–there are thousands;

be inspired by others’ work;

CASE (Copy and Share Everything)–that’s what crafters do;

experiment with your Copic markers to discover new and creative ways to take your work to the next level;

when buying digital images or stamps, be inspired by the coloured samples on the websites; a great one is Power Poppy, which shows samples by several artists for each digital image;

visit digital stamp sites, such as Vanilla Arts Co., which offers a free monthly digital image that comes with a speed colouring video and a “recipe” showing which media and colours were used (e.g., Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, etc.);

experiment with blending colours and make notes on which colour combos blend well together;

I’ve been learning new techniques for colouring with my Copics since I discovered Vanilla Arts Co. The digital images are amazing and each one comes with a “recipe” that shows what colours were used to achieve a professional result. And, if that’s not enough, they also provide a free speed-colouring video that shows you how to colour the image from start to finish. The great thing is that you can stop and start as often as you like so that you can work at your own speed. I joined their Free Digi Club (free of charge) and I receive a free digi once a month, along with the “reciped” and access to the speed-colouring video. Here is one I did last week, called Hudson the Bear (I got it free from the Free Digi Club). The image to the left is what you receive and the one to the right is after I coloured it using the speed colouring video as my guide. I’m really impressed with the results. I probably couldn’t have done this without see the techniques used in the video. Try it out for yourself. I promise you will fall in love with Vanilla Arts Co. Oh, and by the way, I don’t work for the company, I just love their products!

HUDSON THE BEAR before I coloured it. Click on the image for a larger view.

When I received the image I thought,”holy cow, how am I ever going to colour this so it looks real?”And, then, I started the speed-colouringvideo and was amazed at the results I achieved.

HUDSON THE BEAR after I coloured it. Click on the image to see a close-up of the details.

I’m a BIG fan of Vanilla Arts Co. and a BIG fan of Copic markers. Put me together with them in the same room and I’m in Colouring Heaven!!!

Thanks, so much,for stopping by. I hope you will drop in again, soon. Until next time, happy colouring, happy crafting, happy everything!

Happy Birthday, Sis!

My good friend, Lois, whom I like to think of as a sister I chose for myself, just celebrated her 75th birthday. Because we live hundreds of miles from each other, we weren’t able to be together to celebrate her big day. So, I did the next best thing (as all card-makers do), I made her a special birthday card.

This gorgeous cupcake image is by Vanilla Arts Co. I just discovered them a couple of weeks ago and I am in love with their images…but, I digress.

I decided to make an easel card so that Lois could stand it up easily on a table or shelf. The best part of making this card was, as always, colouring it with my Copic Markers. Here are some photos of the finished card…

Isn’t this a beautiful image? It was such a delight to colour.

Here is a view of the card in the easel position.

Here is the card opened to display the inside messages.

As it happens, Lois is in the process of making some big life changes and I wanted the messages in my card to be encouraging to her as she works through the decision-making process. I just know that this coming year is going to be fantastic for her!

So, that’s it for this time. I hope this inspires you to make a card for someone special in your life.

Until next time, happy card-making, and have a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

This is been a season of happy birthdays…

In the space of three weeks, three of my wonderful friends celebrated birthdays. Of course, I just had to make a special card for each of them. So, in chronological order by date, here are my birthday cards for three amazing women. I totally enjoyed making each and every card. I must add, that there is a fourth wonderful woman in our little group of friends and that would be Julie, whose birthday was in July. I’ve always thought of Julie, with her quiet and gentle ways, as a sweet flower, so I made her a pretty peonies card.

Anick, baker par excellence:thank you for all the dozens and dozens of delicious chocolate birthday cupcakes you made for me over the many years that we worked together. Since I retired, I am quite cupcake-deprived! I coloured your card with my Copic markers and added a touch or realism to the cupcake with 3D Crystal Lacquer. To add dimension, I did some “fussy cutting” to pop up the cupcake and the birthday girl. Anick, you truly are “my fabulous friend.”

Here is a close-up of the inside messages.

Jackie, woman of many talents and loving cat lady: It was tough to decide whether I should make you a card that said, “singer, actress, world traveller,” or “loving mommy to your two beautiful kitties.” I decided on this kitty card because you have such a passion for your furry babies. I coloured your card with my Copic markers and did lots of “fussy cutting” to pop up the flowers and the kitty. A touch of sparkle glue added some birthday bling.

I managed to get in a tiny reference to music with the little image and quote on the first inside panel.

Angie, my very stylish friend: Angie, you always look so put together. You have such a great sense of style and an equally great wardrobe. You inspire me to want to lose weight and to spruce up my wardrobe. You are, indeed, my favourite fahsionista.

As always, I coloured this card with my much-loved Copic markers. I used sparkle glue to add bling to the strings of jewels. Angie, I can just see you wearing these shoes! Here’s a close-up of the bling-bling…

And the inside…

So, that’s it for this time. I hope my cards have inspired you to make a card for someone special in your life. Thanks so much for coming by, I hope you will drop in again, soon.